Dance

D'Amboise, who died May 2, began dancing at 7 and joined the New York City Ballet at 15. He later founded the National Dance Institute, which teaches dance to children. Originally broadcast in 1989.

Champion, who died Oct. 21, danced with her husband Gower in the movie musicals Till the Clouds Roll By, Showboat and Lovely to Look At. Originally broadcast in 2001.

Jo Sullivan Loesser, who died April 28, starred in Frank Loesser's Broadway show The Most Happy Fella and then married him. After he died she helped preserve his legacy.

"Dance numbers are anything but spontaneous," Donen told Fresh Air in 1996. Donen, who died Feb. 21, also directed On the Town, Funny Face and Damn Yankees, among other films.

Taylor, who died Wednesday, began dancing when he was 22 and worked with some of the world's most renowned choreographers before establishing his own dance troupe. Originally broadcast in 1987.

"One of the great iconoclasts in 20th-century art," Merce Cunningham revolutionized modern dance, pioneering abstract movement with his partner John Cage. Cunningham died July 26 at the age of 90.

Fayard Nicholas was part of the famous acrobatic dancing team the Nicholas Brothers. He died earlier this week at the age of 91. Fayard's brother and tap partner Harold Nicholas recalls their career together.

Gregory Hines died Saturday at the age of 57. He won a Tony Award as best actor in 1992 for his portrayal of Jelly Roll Morton in Jelly's Last Jam. His film roles include Francis Ford Coppola's Cotton Club, White Nights in which he danced with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Tap. This interview first aired February 8, 1989.

We remember dancer Gwen Verdon. She died today at the age of 75. She became an overnight Broadway sensation in 1953 as a dancer in Can Can, for which she won her first Tony Award. Later she created her most memorable roles in Bob Fosse's "Damn Yankees" as the seductress Lola, "Sweet Charity" as the taxi dancer Charity, and "Chicago" as the chorus girl Roxie. Verdon was also Fosse's third wife. (ORIGINAL BROADCAST from 5/5/93)

Earlier this week, Harold Nicolas, the younger member of the famous tap-dancing duo, The Nicholas Brothers, died in Manhattan. The Nicholas Brothers danced in vaudeville, on Broadway, in night clubs and on TV, but may be best known for their appearances in movie musicals of the 1930s and 40s. We’ll listen back to a 1985 interview with Nicolas.